Bartolomeo Vivarini, Madonna della Misericordia, 1473. Venice, Santa Maria Formosa (detail) (The portrayals of the devout call to mind the kinds of people who had made the commission of the painting possible.)

Relief of La Vecia del Morter (the Old Woman of the Mortar) – a reminder of the part Giustina Rossi played in foiling the Bajamonte Tiepolo conspiracy of 1310. Venice, Mercerie

Giusto de’ Menabuoi, frescoes on the west wall of the Baptistery, Padua, c.1375. (Commissioned by Fina Buzzacarini.)

The Castello Estense, commissioned by Nicolò II d’Este in 1385, evolved from a fortress into a palace, serving as the Este family’s permanent residence.

Ercole I d’Este, duke of Ferrara from 1471, was a pious man whose spiritual inclinations can be seen in works such as Guido Mazzoni’s Lamentation (1485) in the church of the Gesù in Ferrara.

This quattrocento fresco cycle lines the Salone dei Mesi in the Palazzo Schifanoia. It is a blend of mythological, astrological and historical material, by artists such as Francesco del Cossa.

The Palazzo dei Diamanti was designed by Biagio Rossetti and is the most important monument of the Addizione Erculea (an urban expansion project begun in 1492).

The Palazzo Costabili contains the Sala del Tesoro, decorated by Benvenuto Tisi c.1504. It is remarkable for its illusionistic painted ceiling.

The Casa Romei was built between 1440 and 1450 for Giovanni Romei. The late Gothic style courtyard, Room of the Sibyls, and the Room of the Prophets, offer a rare example of a fifteenth century middle class home and the style unique to Ferrara.